By Lindsay Edwards

When it comes to reducing the risk of heart disease, monounsaturated fats are healthier than saturated fats, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). Monounsaturated fats include foods such as olive oil, canola oil, peanuts, and avocados. To start you on your way to a heart-healthy lifestyle, the AHA recommends that you begin replacing less heart-healthy saturated fats with monounsaturated fats.

You can attain many benefits from substituting saturated fats with monounsaturated fats. Not only do monounsaturated fats lower the level of "bad" LDL cholesterol in your blood, but they also help maintain the level of "good" HDL cholesterol. Also, unsaturated fats, in general, help make the blood-clotting substances, called platelets, less sticky and less likely to cause a clot. A blood clot traveling in the blood stream is a major cause of many heart attacks and strokes.

However, before you go overboard and drench your salad in olive oil, you should know that monounsaturated fat is loaded with calories. Too many calories can, unfortunately, cause substantial weight gain, another major risk factor for heart disease. The AHA recommends that no more than 30 percent of your daily calories come from fat and, more importantly, it limits saturated fat to no more than eight to ten percent of your daily calories.